Part I

In an act of last ditch desperation and overcoming his pride, Micah finally asked Luke, Micah's younger brother, to help him into the 21st century by downloading a dating app.

Cut to swiping right on a beautiful girl with Seoul roots, crossing his fingers that the same would happen on the other end, and anticipatory stress becoming almost unbearable. The crossing of fingers worked, a match was made (Kayla Moon, howzabout that name), and the cortisol dropped.

On the other end, Kayla was this close to raising the white flag herself but seemed to find something endearing in the photos of Micah with his family, crinkles around the eyes with a smile, and seemingly normal ease of conversation through text.

A date at Charlie Brown's was set. November 19th, 2022 to be exact.

Part II

Great planning by Micah involved racing over to said place (appropriately 5 minutes late) staring at standstill bumpers with a wintry mix adding to the anxiety. He still beat Kayla there, snagged a table that definitely did not smell like an outhouse, and tousled his hair. And then re-tousled. And then dropped his jaw. And then picked his jaw up. Kayla (just like the picture, imagine that!) immediately gave him a hug (that's a start) only to fall into comfortable conversation.

This girl had zip, she had zap, she made you laugh and forget the time. She was a person of strong compassion and strong family ties. Micah somehow kept it together, got a few pity laughs, and leading to the climax, scored another date a few nights down the road. And we will totally skip over the first kiss (mumbling goodnight with a misplaced peck below the earlobe -- where even is that -- showing off some athletic ability by literally running away) or the second date (Kayla hiding knives around her place - - couch is a little springy, hey -- just to be sure).

We won't skip the night Micah asked Kayla to be his girlfriend, just a few days before Kayla left to visit with her family in Australia for the holidays. Luckily she said yes and Micah could sleep easy knowing that no Crocodile Dundee would steal the show.

Part III

Months of dating filled to the brim with events, both small and large. Tracy, Micah's mom, finally received first hand knowledge that Micah wasn't being cat fished (Kayla was fighting the plague going through her school as a school counselor). Micah got to Zoom with and finally meet his future in-laws, Jack, Edie, Melissa, and Adam (what's up with the mustache). Indi providing the seal of approval and stealing Kayla's heart. Trips to Nashville to see friends, trips to Detroit to see Luke and Adrianna. Trips to Cincinatti for food tours and musicals. Trips to Bar Harbor, Maine for a taste of lobster. Trips to Snug Hollow. Trips to Red River Gorge. Trips to Kroger. Trips to the gym. Sights of winter, spring, summer, and fall melding together in a slurry of family, friends, and memories. Meeting extended family and becoming even more enmeshed. Experiencing highs and lows, brightness and sorrow, the seasons of life. Love was expressed, commitment was made.

Oh, and they moved in together (Micah doubling down on his feelings after Kayla was fine with the literal Library of Alexandria coming to Kentucky Avenue -- although Indi probably helped to grease the wheels).

Part IV (what is this, a Russian novel?)

When: Saturday September 14th, 2024

Where: 233 Kentucky Avenue Lexington, KY

What: Proposal

Who: Whodoyathink

How: After trials and errors of getting Kayla's ring size (that looks like a 6, right?), Micah was able to have one of his patients design a ring for the happy couple, only to let it hide in waiting for the perfect moment. Trying to be spontaneous, said happy couple agreed to go to a date night at Charlie Brown's (hey we should dress up don't ya think, hey don't look at this box-like outline in my shorts, hey don't worry about me leaving the keys under the chair cushion). In the meantime, Tracy, Edie, Jack, and Indi prepped the porch with candles, flowers, and pictures (Indi looking sharp with a bow tie). Flash forward to Micah with palms sweaty, Kayla in tow, conspicuously flapping his arm out to the side to get Tracy's attention that they were walking towards the house and to hide! A flash of white khakis leaping for the bushes, a doxie in a bow-tie, Micah getting on his knees to tie his shoes (wait, those are Vans) and bam Kayla blacks out, doesn't register what Micah's saying (take notes, Hallmark channel), blinding brilliance adds to the mayhem, voila a yes was expressed, tears shed, people jumping out of the bushes (oh my!).

And that's how you get Kentucky by way of South Korea.

About the Authors

Kayla is a proud third culture kid hailing from Seoul, South Korea. She has an undergraduate degree in Public Relations & Theatre Arts (double major, yo) from Valparaiso University and a masters degree in School Counseling from Indiana Wesleyan. She works as a school counselor in Lexington, KY at Veterans Park Elementary. She lives happily with her fiance, Micah Hall, and her best boy, Indi. Kayla is service minded and loves to sing, perform, and attend theatre, cook food, read, sleep, laugh, and be an advocate for the young. She's also been known to enjoy the great outdoors, staying active, and believing in the goodness of humanity.

Micah is originally from Richmond, KY and attended the University of Kentucky receiving a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology and Doctor of Physical Therapy. He works at KORT Physical Therapy. He lives happily with his fiance, Kayla, and his best boy, Indi. Micah is service-minded and also pays rent to the gym, loves to read, enjoys being outside, watches and plays sports ball, making weird noises and impressions, and likes to make his lover, family, and friends laugh.